Pygmy possum faces extinction due to climate change

The World Today - Tuesday, 13 February , 2007 15:06:02

Reporter: Bill Birtles

ELEANOR HALL: They've survived for 20,000 years in some of the toughest conditions Australia has ever seen, but the rare mountain pygmy possum is facing its biggest challenge.

Climate change is having such a huge impact on the tiny mammal that scientists are warning it could be extinct within a decade.

And they say the loss of the pygmy possum will be just the beginning, as global warming threatens more and more species.

This report from Bill Birtles.

BILL BIRTLES: High above sea level, the mountain pygmy possum has thrived in Australia's snowfields for thousands of years.

It hibernates in winter, burrowing into the snow, coming out in spring to what's normally a feast of riches.

But the trouble is, the snow is disappearing too quickly, and it's forced out into the open before its food has arrived.

The tiny population is literally starving to death.

New South Wales National parks wildlife ecologist Dr Linda Broome.

LINDA BROOME: The snow actually provide insulation to them. It's like a doona. Without the snow cover, they are actually subjected to very extreme temperatures, both cold and warm and they can't hibernate.

BILL BIRTLES: There are less than 1500 adult females in the world left, and Australia's population has been steadily dropping for the past decade.

LINDA BROOME: Mount Buller population from 300 to 7, so that's a huge decline. At Mount Blue Cow, we've gone from about 30 females down to two females in 2004.

Other populations in Kosciusko National Park have also been showing declines.

BILL BIRTLES: Adding to their woes, the possums feed on bogong moths, and the drought is having a huge impact on their supply as well.

And the possums who manage to survive, are being attacked by feral cats.

LINDA BROOME: And the feral cats are surviving better because we're not having the deep snow cover here that will actually kill the cats and they're also being able to utilise buildings and developed areas to survive during the winter and then spreading out into the pygmy possum habitat during the summer and gobbling up the possums.

BILL BIRTLES: The numbers are so critically low, wildlife officers are trying to get them to breed in captivity, hoping to reintroduce them in a few years.

But other scientists are warning this could be just the beginning.

The president of the Australian Conservation Foundation Professor Ian Lowe.

IAN LOWE: Human intervention can prop up a threatened species but if the habitat is going, then there's nothing we can do. We're simply releasing creatures back into the wild where they won't survive.

BILL BIRTLES: Professor Lowe is recognised internationally for his contributions to the environment, and he's never been so worried about what the future holds.

IAN LOWE: As the climate is changing, everywhere in Australia and everywhere around the planet, the survivable range for species, ranging from coral reefs to birds is changing.

And the Millennium Assessment Report concluded that climate change is now the most serious threat to the biological diversity of the planet.

ELEANOR HALL: The President of the Australian Conservation Foundation Professor Ian Lowe, ending that report from Bill Birtles.